Five Stages of Grief
by thumos
Summary: Katara decides to remarry, and Tenzin is not happy. old!Zutara


_Denial_

Tenzin tried to ignore the fact that his mother was wearing a different necklace – one of red silk instead of blue and with a differently carved pendant (a badly carved pendant, if Tenzin had anything to say about it) – when he came to visit her in the South Pole. He really did… but seeing the ex-Fire Lord there with her, smiling so brightly that the right half of his face wrinkled up just as much as the left, scarred side was pretty difficult to ignore.

Tenzin glanced uneasily at the other members of his not-so-little family. Kya was humming that idiotic "Secret Tunnel" song to herself while laying out plates of food everywhere, Jinora toddling behind her. Bumi looked positively ecstatic, with Meelo sitting on his lap. Korra and Ikki both asked Katara question after question in loud, high-pitched voices, and Pema simply sat with a sleeping Rohan in the corner of the room, far away from Korra and Ikki. Even Zuko's youngest grandson – General Iroh, the splitting image of Zuko himself – was there, smiling gently.

"Everyone," Katara said firmly. "Zuko and I have an announcement…"

* * *

_Anger_

"You're getting married?" Tenzin yelled at his mother, long after the engagement party had ended. "At your age?"

"Are you calling me _old_, Tenzin?" Katara asked, raising one eyebrow, looking rather irritated.

"Yes!" Tenzin yelled back. "Mother, you're eighty-four years old! You should be playing pai sho, not romancing the Fire Lord!" This earned him a (gentle) water whip to the face. "I'm serious, Mother!"

"Kya and Bumi have no problem with it," Katara pointed out.

"But they're _Kya _and _Bumi_," Tenzin said, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. "If you haven't noticed, they aren't exactly of the soundest mind."

"Well then, if that logic applies," Katara said with a smirk, "then you're _much_ too old to be having any more children."

"I… that is… what?" Tenzin sputtered. "Mother, that has nothing to do with this!"

"Oh yes it does," Katara shot back. "Tenzin, you are fifty—"

"Mother!" Tenzin yelled.

"Why can't you just be happy for us, Tenzin?" Katara asked a bit sadly. "Besides – Fire Lord Sozin lived to be one hundred fifty, and my Gran-Gran lived to be one hundred and forty-five; Zuko and I will have _plenty_ of time together."

"Mother…" Tenzin grumbled.

Katara pat her son gently on the head. "Don't worry, Tenzin," she assured him. "It doesn't matter who I choose to spend the rest of my life with – I will always love you, and you and your siblings will always come first. Besides… if Pema kicks over the waterskin, and you decide to marry Lin, I won't pass any judgement."

Tenzin groaned. "Mother…"

* * *

_Bargaining_

Tenzin sat cross-legged at Air Temple Island, his eyes shut, as he meditated… or at least he _tried_ to, but I'm-a-fully-realized-Avatar-so-I-don't-have-to-meditate-anymore Korra was making it _very_ difficult. "Whatchya doin'?" she drawled, poking him repeatedly in the arm.

Tenzin frowned and twitched slightly. "I'm _trying_ to meditate," he snapped at her. And then, inspiration struck. "Korra… you're a fully-realized Avatar."

"Yup!" Korra replied proudly. "I can blink in and out of the Avatar State, and I didn't even have to do that whole chakra-opening thing that Aang did!"

Tenzin chose not to point out that she indirectly _did_ open her chakras with all the grief and stress Amon and Tarrlok put her through. "So you would be able to summon my father, if necessary."

"Well, I guess I could," Korra drawled. "I've never done it before, so…" She trailed off, and her eyes grew wide. Her eyes began to glow, and the wind around her picked up. Within seconds, a glowing apparition of Aang appeared in Korra's place.

"You called, Tenzin?" the previous Avatar asked gently with a smile.

"Father…" Tenzin whispered, a bit awed and a bit misty-eyed at seeing his father again after so long. "I…" Tenzin cleared his throat and frowned determinedly; he didn't know how long Korra could keep this up, so he would have to get straight to the point. "Mother's decided to remarry."

Aang simply shrugged. "Can't do much about that, Tenzin," he said. "Besides, I'm dead. Your mother can marry whomever she wants."

"She's going to marry ex-Fire Lord Zuko."

"What?" Aang almost yelled, and a violent gust of wind made Tenzin stumble backward. "I mean…" Aang forced a smile. "That's all right. Katara can marry anyone she wants. So what if Zuko's the only one left in our old Team Avatar that's still alive? That's okay. She can marry whomever she wants. I don't have any claim over her anymore."

Tenzin couldn't help but smirk; it _really_ sounded like Aang was trying to reassure himself more than he was trying to reassure his son. "Father, I'm sorry if this news has… upset you."

"No, I'm not upset," Aang said with a smile. "Like I said, I'm dead, and, really, whatever makes Katara happy will make _me_ happy."

"But…" Tenzin sputtered. "Father! Mother is—"

"Tenzin, just be happy for your Mother," Aang sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose – _much like ex- Fire Lord Zuko._ "Don't you think it's sweet that she's found someone in her old age?"

Tenzin groaned. "You're not helping, Father…"

"Okay then," Aang said. "If you _really_ don't think Zuko's good for your mother, you could just bring up Ba Sing Se."

"What's so bad about Ba Sing Se?" Tenzin asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Zuko betrayed us there – well I guess he _didn't_ because he was never really on our side to begin with – but, irregardless, Katara was… really bummed about Zuko leaving for the Fire Nation. They were stuck in jail together."

"What happened in that jail cell?"

Aang shrugged. "No one knows. They won't talk about it."

"So just bring up Ba Sing Se repeatedly," Tenzin said, more to himself than to his father. "Thank you, Father."

"Anytime, Tenzin," Aang replied. "Say hi to Kya and Bumi for me, okay?"

* * *

_Depression_

"So we were discussing locations for the wedding," Katara announced at the dinner table. "Does anyone have any suggestions?

"How about Ba Sing Se?" Tenzin quipped.

Zuko frowned slightly. _Excellent._ "Why Ba Sing Se?" the old man asked.

"Because it would be a sign of good will if the Fire Nation and Water Tribes were united in the Earth Kingdom," Tenzin replied. "Equality, you see."

"Well if it's equality you're going for," Korra piped up, "then why not have the wedding right here in Republic City?"

"That's a great idea, Korra!" Katara agreed enthusiastically.

"W-Wait!" Tenzin protested feebly_. "_But I heard, under Ba Sing Se, there are these _beautiful_ crystal—"

It was then Bumi finally spoke up. "Hey Tenzin!" he almost shouted. "I just remembered, there's something wrong with the airplane, and since you're an airbender, I was wondering if you could fix it!" Before Tenzin could even open his mouth, his brother had latched onto his arm and dragged him out of the room. Once out of earshot of their mother, Bumi's demeanor changed entirely. "All right, little Tenny, listen up. I get that you—"

"Bumi, this is ridiculous," Tenzin cut him off. "Mother is… If you'd just married Ilah like you _said_ you would, none of this would be happening!"

"What, so now it's _my_ fault?" Bumi shot back. "Ilah didn't want to get married until she got used to being Fire Lord – she made that painfully clear."

"But if you _did_ marry her, then Zuko, Ilah, and Ta Min would be our _in-laws_ instead of our _stepfamily_!"

"Well we can't do much about that right now, can we?" Bumi sighed and rested his hand on Tenzin's shoulder. Tenzin's eyes averted to the floor in sadness. "Look, Tenzin. I know this is hard for you, but… Mom's a grown woman, and if she wants to marry Zuko, then fine. Besides, you know how she is. It doesn't matter _how_ many times you bring up Ba Sing Se; it isn't going to change how they feel about each other."

Tenzin frowned accusingly at his brother. "Mom told you what happened there, didn't she? But Father said no one knows about it!"

"I _don't_ know about it, and, honestly, it isn't my place to ask. The point is, Mom's _happy_ with Zuko. Isn't that the only thing that matters in the end?" Tenzin sighed and nodded reluctantly. "Good. Now let's get back; I'm starving!"

* * *

_Acceptance_

In the end, Katara and Zuko's wedding was a small and quiet affair, something only family and close friends attended. The night before, Tenzin apologized to his mother for giving her such a hard time before the wedding. "As long as you're happy, Mother, I'm happy," he told her. And then she started crying, and he started crying, and they hugged each other, and… Tenzin hated how he inherited his overemotional tendencies from his mother.

Katara really did look beautiful, in her old age, and the red silk betrothal necklace only contributed to her beauty. It was one of the air acolytes that performed the marriage, calling down on Tui, La, Yue, and Agni to bless the joyous occasion. And, the whole time, Tenzin thought his mother couldn't possibly smile more widely. Zuko's smile wasn't nearly as wide as Katara's, but anyone who knew him well could say that he was just as happy, if not happier than she was today.

"And I now pronounce you man and wife."

And then everyone clapped, and Tenzin smiled at his mother and his new stepfather, wondering how he ever could have disagreed to his mother being so happy.

* * *

_old!Zutara is my new OTP. It's better than AtlA Zutara by a _lot_. And since they're both alive in Korra… well… head canons abound. And yes, the ending was horribly cheesy. I know. _

_As for Zuko's daughter(s)… I see everyone name at least one of them Honora (which probably isn't going to happen) or Ursa (which is kind of predictable). So I tried something different. Here, Zuko has _two_ daughters: Ilah (named after his grandmother, AKA Azulon's wife) and Ta Min (named after Roku's wife; also, in my particular head canon, Iroh Jr.'s mom)._

_Please review!_


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